BREAKING: French Election-Socialist Hollande Has Won

Hollande, Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 French presidential election waves as he arrives at a polling station in Tulle Photo: Reuters

Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has won the French presidential election, according to a report by Agence France Presse. AFP said that, based on exit polls, Hollande gained between 52 and 53.3 percent of the vote, putting an end to the political career of conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Crowds of Socialist supporters have descended upon Hollande's hometown of Tulle in central France and also in front of party headquarters in Paris to celebrate the victory, at least an hour before French media was permitted to declare the official results.

Every major French polling organization - including CSA, TNS Sofres and Ipsos - gave Hollande between 52 and 53 percent of the final tally.